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Rating: 
Summary: Not at all as bad as some people think
Review: I received this book as an anniversary present and as I looked through it I asked my spouse "is this a gift for you or me?" as I pointed to the overwhelming number of naked and semi-naked images of heroines. The biggest question I had with this book was: What is the definition of heroine that both Miller and Sargent are using? Next I wanted to know why the book was so short. I've read several books about women writers, women characters, and feminism even in science fiction and fantasy. While the number of characters and authors they address is usually fewer they are more detailed. I can't say after reading this book that I understand why some of the characters are listed as heroines at all. Instead, the book seems more focused on starting to look at the changes in female characters over decades -- a topic that deserved at least twice this number of pages even if the pictures had to be a much smaller part of the concept.
Rating: 
Summary: Huge let down
Review: I was extremely disappointed with the illustrations in this book. The artwork is amaturish at best. If you are interested in reading about heroines in sci-fi/fantasy then pick it up, but if you are looking for a good fantasy ART book then don't bother with this one.
Rating:
Summary: Good idea badly executed
Review: This book is an interesting read on the changing roles of women in Sci Fi and fantasy, but the artwork really lets it down. It looks as though Ron Miller was in one hell of a hurry to produce enough pictures for the book and the quality really isn`t up to much. OK so I`m being critical and I freely admit I could`t do better, but that isn`t the point, there are those that can. Save your money get "Transluminal" or "Chiaroscuro" Jim Burns & Tim White show how it should have been done.Having read so many positive reviews I gave the book another chance, was I wrong ? Sorry but no, it isn't that I was expecting Boris type archetypes of perfection. I just prefer paintings where perspective and proportion have not been sacrificed in order to achieve quantity. I stand by my original rating one star only.
Rating:
Summary: Not at all as bad as some people think
Review: While some of the other reviewers have trashed the art in this book, I simply found it uneven. It's certainly nowhere near as bad as some people have suggested. Some of the paintings are, I think, excellent--many are the best portrayals of the characters that I have ever seen. The artist has obviously made some considerable effort to make the characters seem more like real people than the idealized caricatures seen on most SF covers. Outstanding are the portraits of Jirel of Joiry, the Little Mermaid, Rima, Sharane and Susan Calvin, among others. It's true that some of the paintings were obviously rushed, but these are in the minority and the book is well worth getting for the art that is successful. It may be that Miller's efforts to make his women seem like real people may have backfired on him, since most readers will be expecting the kind of glitzy, over-the-top depictions found in books by Chris Achilleos or Boris, which these are not.
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